Latest / Inside American Soccer with Tom Bogert and Tab Ramos / USMNT World Cup Roster Watch, Inside Story of Tyler Adams!

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USMNT World Cup Roster Watch, Inside Story of Tyler Adams! · Inside American Soccer with Tom Bogert and Tab Ramos

• 0:06
  Speaker 1: What's going on? Everybody? Welcome back to Inside American Soccer
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: for episode two. I'm your host, Tom Boger, and as always,
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: I'm joined by my friend and one of the greatest
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: players in US soccer history, a veteran of three World
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: Cups and a former very successful USU twenty World Cup
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: and MLS head coach, tab Ramos. Tab. It is Thanksgiving week.
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: We are getting into it with the national team. That
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: is our appetizer. I don't need the cranberry stash right now.
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: I just need talking about Christian Polisic scoring against Inter
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: Milan and these crazy MS Cup playoffs with a handful
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: of US M and T guys still alive. But Tab,
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: what's going on? Thanks for joining As always, great to
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: see you. What do we got going on for Thanksgiving?
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: Hey? Tom, you know it's great to be here with
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: you again.
• 0:46
  Speaker 3: Obviously, Thanksgiving week, great family week on the East Coast.
• 0:50
  Speaker 3: This is the time of the year where it's great
• 0:52
  Speaker 3: to be in the East Coast. And yeah, I'm very
• 0:54
  Speaker 3: excited about how not just Christian Polistic, but the rest
• 0:58
  Speaker 3: of our players went back to their teams in Europe
• 1:00
  Speaker 3: and have found some success very quickly.
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: Yeah, there's some good things happening there. But over stateside,
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: you're right, it is. It is a wonderful week. And
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: when people think about Thanksgiving, a lot of sports come
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: up because it's it's a fun holiday for American football
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: and NFL. I enjoyed that, But tap down on the
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: Jersey Shore, I have my own Thanksgiving tradition and Christmas
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: Eve where I rent out a local soccer field and
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: all of some of my former college teammates, club teammates,
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: all these guys I invited your son. I'll let you
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: know about it as well, But soccer gets gets in
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: the way for Thanksgiving for me as well.
• 1:32
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm usually anywhere my son goes from, usually the
• 1:35
  Speaker 3: Plus one, so but yeah, no, I think he's actually
• 1:41
  Speaker 3: not going to be in town unfortunately the next couple
• 1:43
  Speaker 3: of days. But I may show up and just watch
• 1:46
  Speaker 3: from the outside a little bit, see what's going on.
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: I think you'll bring your shoes and just like you know,
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: you'll find yourself in the middle of the field. I
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: was talking to somebody who played a pickup game with
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: you a few years ago, and they were like, listen,
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: I knew that he was obviously still going to be great,
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: but my God, he was head and shoulder above everybody
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: else on that field, so unsurprisingly you still got it.
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: On today's show, though a little bit more important than
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: my Thanksgiving kick around. On today's show, we're focused on
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: the US men's national team World Cup roster. Watch everything
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: that happens with this team right now and has been
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: for the last year. It's all focused towards twenty twenty six,
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: towards that tournament. I think it's important for us early
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: in our show to set the table on where the
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: roster stands and what we think about the whole hierarchy
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: of the club, particularly when we're gonna be between November
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: to March and the international windows. There's a lot of big,
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: big games for players with their clubs, and the final
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: roster is taking shape. There's still plenty of spots up
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: for grabs, but right now I think it is important
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: to give our overview macro look at the position battles
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: and everything to see who is going to be that
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: twenty six man roster for so much po Chattino, because
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: a lot can change and a lot will change between
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: now in the summer, we'll talk about our locks, we'll
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: talk about who he thinks on the bubble who we
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: thinks still maybe has a chance. After that, Tab and
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: I will go with our starting elevens again. I'm very
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: much looking forward to the World Cup starting and imagining
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: who's gonna be on the field for the national team.
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: So we'll go to that. Tab is gonna give us
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: a story inside the locker room of when he was
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: first working with Tyler Adams with the United States you
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: twenty national team. I'm really looking forward to that one.
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: We'll go inside the notebook for a couple of the
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: latest news around the national team and things that kind
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: of impact it in terms of stories that I've broken
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: and things that are going on outside of the field.
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: And finally we're gonna close with our big question and
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: we're gonna look ahead at the World Cup again. Who
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: could be the breakout star of the World Cup. I
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: think Tab and I might have a couple very different answers,
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: But Tab, we gotta get into the roster right now.
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: And when you're building a roster, I know that the
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: size is now twenty six. I forget what your last
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: U twenty World Cup squad was in terms of the
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: players on the roster. Was it twenty three then? Or
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: was the YOU twenty World Cup still twenty.
• 3:49
  Speaker 3: It was twenty for the U twenty World Cup, It
• 3:51
  Speaker 3: was twenty three for.
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: The Senior World Cup.
• 3:53
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it's difficult, but you know, there are a couple
• 3:56
  Speaker 3: of components that you always start with when you start
• 3:58
  Speaker 3: with these lists, and that's the fact that it's likely,
• 4:03
  Speaker 3: you know, you go to the World Cup, you have
• 4:05
  Speaker 3: three games in the first round and they go by quickly,
• 4:08
  Speaker 3: and really the core of your team is who you're
• 4:11
  Speaker 3: playing your World Cup with, right, So it's gonna be
• 4:14
  Speaker 3: at most eighteen to twenty players that are really going
• 4:16
  Speaker 3: to play a part, regardless of how big your roster is.
• 4:19
  Speaker 3: So I want, like sort of the listeners to take
• 4:23
  Speaker 3: into account the fact that sometimes we're all battling over
• 4:27
  Speaker 3: those last five or six positions.
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: Could it be this guy, could it be that guy?
• 4:31
  Speaker 3: And I think those positions aren't always necessarily about soccer, right, because.
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: You're you're building a group.
• 4:38
  Speaker 3: You're gonna be together for a month and a half,
• 4:40
  Speaker 3: likely between preparation and the World Cup at the very least,
• 4:43
  Speaker 3: and you need, at the end of the day, guys
• 4:46
  Speaker 3: that are gonna push each other, right, And sometimes those
• 4:48
  Speaker 3: guys at the end of the roster become really integral
• 4:52
  Speaker 3: parts of these teams, and not necessarily always because of
• 4:56
  Speaker 3: what they do on the field.
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: That's a good point, and it is it's funny, like
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: how difficult it is to come up with a twenty
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: six man roster. It's not exclusive to the United States.
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: I'm sure it's even more difficult when you're looking at England,
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: when you're looking at Germany, France, Argentina, some of the
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: you know, heavy favorites going into this World Cup. But
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: eight years ago when it was twenty three, I feel
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: like we'd have it be having the same debates even
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: if they made it a thirty man roster, which FIFA,
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: please don't get any bad ideas, do not do that.
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: Twenty six is plenty, twenty three was probably plenty, but
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: all allow the twenty six. And yeah, that's a good
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: point to focus on, like we will get stuck into
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: the handful of spots on the roster and where we
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: think they might go, but it really is more about
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: the core, you know, sixteen to eighteen guys that we're
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: expecting or are going to be carrying the heavy minutes
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: load and will be the difference between getting to a
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: knockout round or advancing on a knockout round, rather than
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: say the last handful of spots who might not see
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: the field.
• 5:47
  Speaker 3: First of all, what the twenty six man roster is,
• 5:51
  Speaker 3: what it does is allows you the opportunity to not
• 5:55
  Speaker 3: doubt at all whether you want to have a third
• 5:57
  Speaker 3: goalkeeper that's number one, Because, believe it or not, it
• 6:00
  Speaker 3: seems simple from the outside when you when you start doing,
• 6:03
  Speaker 3: when you start doing the lineup and the lineup and
• 6:06
  Speaker 3: then the roster, and in particular, if you have twenty
• 6:10
  Speaker 3: you're thinking, man, do I really need that third goalkeeper?
• 6:13
  Speaker 3: But then if you don't, do you get in trouble? Right,
• 6:15
  Speaker 3: So twenty six makes it a little bit easier. I
• 6:18
  Speaker 3: think there's nothing wrong with that. I think, if anything,
• 6:21
  Speaker 3: gives a lot more players to live that opportunity. Yet,
• 6:24
  Speaker 3: you know, you have to remember one thing in particular.
• 6:27
  Speaker 3: You know, obviously everyone sort of that's tuning in and
• 6:30
  Speaker 3: it wants to be on the inside of these things.
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: You know, I'll move away from the.
• 6:36
  Speaker 3: Coaching side and take the player's side a little bit.
• 6:38
  Speaker 3: What I'll say is, you know, it's difficult to go
• 6:41
  Speaker 3: to a World Cup. You know you have you know,
• 6:43
  Speaker 3: it's every four years. You have to be in good
• 6:46
  Speaker 3: form at the time, you have to not be injured
• 6:48
  Speaker 3: at the time, So it's very difficult to be on
• 6:51
  Speaker 3: one of these rosters. And this is why it's such
• 6:53
  Speaker 3: a it's such such a great accomplishment for any player
• 6:57
  Speaker 3: to make it there.
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: Of course, before we get into the weeds of this
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: group of this pool and kind of sift it down
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: to twenty six really quickly. Tab something that I really
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: liked from recent po Chatino he had a thoughtful and
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: a human answer when he was asked about the final
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: camp before the World Cup, like those friendlies in May,
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: the sendoff friendlies. He was asked like, how many extra
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: are you gonna bring? And he goes, I don't guy,
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: I just really want to bring the twenty six and
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: are making the World Cup squad, not because I don't
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: believe in other people. But he goes, it's cruel if
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: you bring guys and they're doing all the preparations for
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: the World Cup and then the day before we take
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: our flight to Los Angeles, I have to tell three
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: people you're not coming with us, You're not part of
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: the team. He goes, I think that's cruel. He used
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: that word a few times in your experience tab when
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: you were playing. What were those like sendoff camps? Like
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: did you guys have the World Cup roster or did
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: you have an extra five guys that ended up getting cut.
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: I'll take it from the coaching side first.
• 7:53
  Speaker 3: I think that's most important because I've done that as
• 7:56
  Speaker 3: a coach. I've taken the extra players, and I think
• 7:59
  Speaker 3: you can do that as long as you have the
• 8:02
  Speaker 3: discussions with the players. I think one of the years
• 8:05
  Speaker 3: my extra player might have been Connor Donovan. Another one
• 8:09
  Speaker 3: of the years it might have been Awesome Trustee. And
• 8:13
  Speaker 3: I think in both cases someone got injured and they
• 8:16
  Speaker 3: replaced them, so and now we had the advantage that
• 8:20
  Speaker 3: we already had them there and training with us. So
• 8:22
  Speaker 3: it's a really you know, it was an easy process
• 8:25
  Speaker 3: to incorporate them into the team. I know in one
• 8:28
  Speaker 3: of them, I think it might have been a World
• 8:30
  Speaker 3: Cup in New Zealand. So you're the other side of
• 8:32
  Speaker 3: the world, right and so you have to take that
• 8:34
  Speaker 3: into consideration because if you have an injury right before
• 8:37
  Speaker 3: the deadline and you can replace, do you want to
• 8:40
  Speaker 3: bring a player from across the world. So I think
• 8:43
  Speaker 3: it's important to have the conversations. They're not easy ones.
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: But you know, sometimes.
• 8:46
  Speaker 3: Players, when they feel like they're not on the team
• 8:49
  Speaker 3: at all, they'd rather have that opportunity to be with
• 8:52
  Speaker 3: the team and say, hey, you know, I know I'm
• 8:54
  Speaker 3: not on In case someone gets.
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: Injured, I'm here, and then you know that you can replace.
• 8:58
  Speaker 3: So there's a couple different ways to look at I
• 9:00
  Speaker 3: understand Posatino's answer, so that you don't have someone who's
• 9:05
  Speaker 3: hopeful who's.
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: Not gonna make it.
• 9:06
  Speaker 3: But I think if you have that conversation beforehand and say, look,
• 9:09
  Speaker 3: you're not on the team, but I can give you
• 9:10
  Speaker 3: this opportunity to be with the team for a period
• 9:12
  Speaker 3: of time, I think that can also work.
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: That does make sense. And then it is the other side,
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: and at the end of the day, they are professionals,
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: they are adults, but man like that just seems really difficult.
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: But hey, at least for you a couple like not
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: happy that anybody got injured, but that eliminated some of
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: those really difficult conversations. But now further Ado, let's get
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: in to the US national team pool as it stands
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: right now late November, the World Cup is coming up
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: in seven months or whatever. I can't. I'm not gonna
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: do the quick math. Let's start with the Goalkeepers're gonna
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: go a position by position. For me, Matt Freeze is
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: a lock, and this position more than any others. If
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: you told me any two of Patrick Chalty, Matt Turner,
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: Chris Brady, Roman Celentano, Zack Stefan Diego coachin Jonathan Clinzman,
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: pick two, your guests would be better than mine. I
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: have no idea who else Pochettino is going to call,
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: but I think it's inconsequential to an extent because Matt
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: Freeze is the starter and I don't see that changing.
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: Totally agree.
• 10:06
  Speaker 3: I would have to say that obviously Matt Freeze player
• 10:09
  Speaker 3: has played every game he has done.
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: He hasn't done anything to hurt himself.
• 10:13
  Speaker 3: I think, if anything, every game that goes by, he
• 10:15
  Speaker 3: gains a little bit more experienced and a little bit
• 10:17
  Speaker 3: more confidence. So I think we're going to be looking
• 10:20
  Speaker 3: at a better goalkeeper even six months from now. So
• 10:23
  Speaker 3: the fact that Mauricio Pozettino has sort of made it
• 10:26
  Speaker 3: clear now that this is his guy, I think it's
• 10:30
  Speaker 3: a good sign for Matt Freeze, and I think he's
• 10:32
  Speaker 3: done well. From there, I'd have to say, what are
• 10:35
  Speaker 3: you know? It's likely that Matt freeze. If we look
• 10:38
  Speaker 3: into the future, it's likely that he'll play all the
• 10:40
  Speaker 3: games at the World Cup. That being the case, you know,
• 10:44
  Speaker 3: I think Matt Turner, unless there are some locker room
• 10:47
  Speaker 3: issues that we don't know about, I think Matt Turner's
• 10:50
  Speaker 3: experience at the last World Cup would be important.
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: To have on the roster.
• 10:55
  Speaker 3: You know, he did, he did well, He had a
• 10:58
  Speaker 3: good last cycle. He became the starter, and I think
• 11:02
  Speaker 3: he would be for me at this point. I would
• 11:04
  Speaker 3: add him as a lock, and I would you know,
• 11:06
  Speaker 3: you're saying, okay, the next two those are tough ones.
• 11:09
  Speaker 3: I would say to meet Matt has to be one
• 11:12
  Speaker 3: of those two, and then the other.
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: I wouldn't know.
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: So I agree with Turner. It's just that I can't
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: call him a lock in good faith because like Pachatino,
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: just left him off the group. I think that he
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: is for sure one of the best three American men's
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: soccer goalkeepers that we have. His shot stopping it's a really,
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: really top trait. I know that he struggled a bit.
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: He dipped in form when he went to England, but
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: he's back in MLS and I think that he's just
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: going to be the guy that we saw in New
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: England rather than the guy we saw struggling at Nottingham Forest.
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: But it's been a tough road for him. And I
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: was again, if you told me right after the twenty
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: twenty two World Cup, and I'm going to say this
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: line for I think about four or five players as
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: we go down this list, but if you told me
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: after the World Cup in twenty two, hey, there's no
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: guarantee that Matt Turner will even be on the squad,
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: let alone the starter, I would have been shocked and
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: I would have said, wow, Igsonino must be really, really good.
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: And that's the name we didn't mention because he's so
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: kind of far away from the pool the young goalkeeper
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: to watch. Here's Diego coaching at Barcelona. He's the starter
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: for he's the regular for the second team. He's been
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: with the first team. Depending on injuries, he'll be called
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: up to the bench. That's why he missed the U
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: twenty World Cup because there was an injury to Barcelona's
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: Forget Afu Chesney or Diego Diego Lopez that he had
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: to be caught up to be the second or third goalkeeper.
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: He was on the bench for Barcelona, which is really cool.
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: He does not have many first team, if any games,
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: just friendlies and stuff, but he is playing with the
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: second team and he's somebody with a big, bright future.
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: So in the general sense, whether it's coaching, would you
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: rather that third goalkeeper slot again, somebody who's overwhelmingly expected
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: to not see the field? Would you rather be a
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: young rising guy like Diego coaching or would you rather
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: it be like in twenty twenty two Sean Johnson, It
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: could be Celentano, SHOALTI Stepan and then probably Chris Brady
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: might be ahead of coaching. But generally speaking, would you
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: rather see a young guy or more of like a
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: veteran locker room presence as that third keeper?
• 13:01
  Speaker 3: I would, And this is a very good question, and
• 13:04
  Speaker 3: I think there is There are no wrong answers, really,
• 13:06
  Speaker 3: because that depends on the coach, purely on the coach
• 13:09
  Speaker 3: and what he wants to see in the locker room.
• 13:11
  Speaker 3: For me, I you know, and obviously different scenario because
• 13:15
  Speaker 3: you're talking about you twenty World Cups, You're not talking
• 13:17
  Speaker 3: about senior World Cups.
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: Haven't said that.
• 13:19
  Speaker 3: I always lean to bring as players that potentially were
• 13:23
  Speaker 3: not going to play, you know, as you predict the
• 13:27
  Speaker 3: World Cup going through. I always wanted to have younger
• 13:30
  Speaker 3: guys because that's experience. It's experienced they can watch, they're around,
• 13:36
  Speaker 3: you know, And if Diego coach goes into the next
• 13:39
  Speaker 3: two three years as a potential competitor for the position,
• 13:43
  Speaker 3: he will already have that experience under his belt of
• 13:46
  Speaker 3: having been there. So I personally would lean towards a
• 13:49
  Speaker 3: younger player.
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: Ah yeah, I would too, particularly with the makeup of Again,
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: if it is Freeze and Turner, those are two in
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: prime guys. It's not as if the starter is a
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: young player. You said, Turner has already been there, so
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: maybe that their goalkeeper spot can be used on somebody
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: like Coaching, who I think we all believe is likely
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: to be the goalkeeper of the future for this program
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: if his development continues. Honest center backs, Chris Richards is
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: the dominant anchor, that is the guy to watch it
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: as the most important person at this position for me
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: and one of the most important people on the team.
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: So I want to be focused on Chris Richards, and
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: every decision is based on who partners best with him.
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: We're assuming that this is all built around the three
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: four to two one system that Pochatino has preferred, particularly
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: in possession, So I'm assuming that five center backs have
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: to go, and it depends on if we're gonna list
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: Alex Freeman as a center back or as a wingback,
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: because he can do both, and in the last camp
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: he played that outside center back role against Uruguay and
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: he was stellar and he was able to get forward
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: a little bit depending on the team shape. So for me,
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: it's Chris Richards. I think Tim Reem is probably a
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: lock as well. Miles Robinson isn't far off. Mark McKenzie
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: is another likely. Austin Trustee. I think that's a group
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: that I'm assuming if they do bring five pure center backs,
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: but there is a possibility that maybe it's for plus
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: alics Freeman and he uses versatility to cover both spots.
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: A couple others to consider. There's Joe Scalley, No, Kai Banks,
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: Tristan Blackman, and I think those are the three that
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: are like actually in the mix to crash the party.
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: But Awesome Trusty I think is ahead of those guys.
• 15:20
  Speaker 3: I would agree with you on that I would start
• 15:22
  Speaker 3: the rest, you know, and I didn't say this, you
• 15:24
  Speaker 3: know when we talked about the goalkeepers, because I think
• 15:26
  Speaker 3: with the goalkeepers it just doesn't matter. But I want
• 15:29
  Speaker 3: to say that we're we're obviously picking a roster and
• 15:32
  Speaker 3: projecting the future without considering the draw that's happening next week,
• 15:36
  Speaker 3: good boy, because that does make a difference.
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: You know.
• 15:39
  Speaker 3: Now we've seen our team against Uruguay and Paraguay and
• 15:42
  Speaker 3: we've seen what type of combinations, for example, in midfield
• 15:45
  Speaker 3: work out better. We also have seen what we look
• 15:49
  Speaker 3: like like against Switzerland and Turkey, you know, European teams,
• 15:55
  Speaker 3: and that's a little bit different. So I think when
• 15:58
  Speaker 3: the draw happens next week, I think that could that
• 16:01
  Speaker 3: could make a coach lean in those close calls, That
• 16:05
  Speaker 3: could make a coach lean one way.
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: Or the other. Haven't said that.
• 16:08
  Speaker 3: I agree with you that I'm looking at the same
• 16:11
  Speaker 3: at three four two one because that's what he's playing.
• 16:14
  Speaker 3: Having said that, I think Freeman, Richards McKenzie and Reim
• 16:18
  Speaker 3: I think.
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: For me their locks if we went by one by one.
• 16:22
  Speaker 3: Obviously Freeman can do both the wing back position. He
• 16:26
  Speaker 3: can also be a right back or he can be
• 16:28
  Speaker 3: also that straight up, you know, center back, because he's
• 16:31
  Speaker 3: done that and he's done that well.
• 16:33
  Speaker 2: Richards is obviously, you know, one.
• 16:35
  Speaker 3: Of the locks to be on the eleven and to
• 16:38
  Speaker 3: play that central position, which is what Pochettino seems to
• 16:41
  Speaker 3: put him. And then I think Mackenzie and Reim on
• 16:43
  Speaker 3: the other side could be either one. I think Reim
• 16:47
  Speaker 3: and we talked about this on the last show about
• 16:49
  Speaker 3: Reem being a little bit of the bridge player because
• 16:51
  Speaker 3: he's the experienced guy that kind of has been Pochettino's
• 16:54
  Speaker 3: guy and has helped on the field and off the
• 16:58
  Speaker 3: field to bring this team together. And I think that
• 17:01
  Speaker 3: role will continue, but probably to a lesser extent as
• 17:04
  Speaker 3: we get closer to the World Cup, and he may
• 17:06
  Speaker 3: just not be a starter by the time we get
• 17:08
  Speaker 3: to the World Cup. But obviously that's all speculations. So
• 17:11
  Speaker 3: I would think those are the locks. I think Miles
• 17:13
  Speaker 3: Robinson has a good possibility to be that other just
• 17:16
  Speaker 3: straight out center back if we wanted to add one more.
• 17:20
  Speaker 3: And then I'll just mention Scali here because I think
• 17:24
  Speaker 3: both Scali and Freeman have that dual role type of
• 17:29
  Speaker 3: that they can do both. So let's say you had
• 17:31
  Speaker 3: you know, Dest or someone else hurt. Either one of
• 17:34
  Speaker 3: those could replaced you know Dest on the right side,
• 17:37
  Speaker 3: and then you could also have either one of them
• 17:39
  Speaker 3: play the center back, so they could both be there.
• 17:41
  Speaker 2: So I'll just say that.
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: My only slight pushback is I don't see a world
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: in which Potchatina would push scali At to that right
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: wing back role because you have to play like a winger,
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: and he's much more safe as that right center back.
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: I think he's firmly in the mix. But if that happened,
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: I think it would be Freeman or Weeya or whoever,
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: and scali would would be further back. But I'm assuming
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: that they're gonna bring five center backs and that's not
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: gonna include Freeman, just because when we get to the
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: wing backs and in a minute, like I just don't
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: think that there's really any other options that you'd rather
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: have an extra wing back than an extra center back.
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: And with Miles Robinson, his biggest benefit to making the
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: roster is you look at Reem, McKenzie and Trustee. All
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: three of them I think are excellent players. It is difficult,
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: generally to find a ball playing left footed center back. Well,
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: this group has three between those guys, So Miles Robinson
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: is a different profile because of his athleticism and his
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: ability to kind of hunt and win the ball. But
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: he's not the best passer, but that's okay when you
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: have Richard's and then any one of Reem mckenzier trustee
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: are all very good at passing the ball out of
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: the back. So I think Robinson does have a leg
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: up just because he's different than those guys. But again, Scally,
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: I think is still firmly in the mix. And then
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: if Noah Kai Banks continues his development. When he was
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: brought in in September, I believe Pochettino was like, he
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: didn't in so many words, was like, he might not
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: be ready right now, and he probably isn't, but players
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: can develop at his age rapidly, and particularly what the
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: experience he's getting, and we know his talent. We want
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: him in camp not just for what he's doing on
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: the field and to give him that experience and development,
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: but we want to know more about what he's like,
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: how he fits in the group, what he does off
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: the field, and all that because we want to be
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: ready that if he's playing at a level that warrants
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: his inclusion. We know everything about him or we know
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: more about him because we've had him in camp. So
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: I think that is somebody to watch as like a Riser,
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: but maybe Tristan Blackman as well. But but again I
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: think that there are a lot of good options here.
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: And that's another reason why I think Pochatina will bring
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: five of these guys that don't include Freeman, because going
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: to the wingbacks the wing backs is the easiest one
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: for me. It's so genior Desks, Anthony Robinson, Max Orften,
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: and then Alex Freeman, depending if you want to put
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: him in this group. I think those four are pretty
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: ironclad locks for this group.
• 19:53
  Speaker 2: Yeah, no doubt.
• 19:54
  Speaker 3: And I think we're all hoping that Anthony Robinson, you know,
• 19:59
  Speaker 3: is back and his.
• 19:59
  Speaker 2: B at the level where he was before. You know.
• 20:02
  Speaker 3: Having said that, Max Arsten, you know, and I mentioned
• 20:05
  Speaker 3: this the other day to somebody, but he somehow made
• 20:09
  Speaker 3: us for a little while forget about Anthony Robinson, and
• 20:11
  Speaker 3: I think I think that's big words, big, big compliment
• 20:16
  Speaker 3: to him, because you know, Anthony Robinson to me, has
• 20:19
  Speaker 3: been our best player over the last four or five years.
• 20:21
  Speaker 3: He was consistent He made us better every game. He
• 20:25
  Speaker 3: made big plays every game on both sides of the ball.
• 20:28
  Speaker 3: So I really felt like we couldn't do without him.
• 20:31
  Speaker 3: And yet Max Arsten has has made us, you know,
• 20:36
  Speaker 3: think about other positions, and I think I think by
• 20:39
  Speaker 3: not even mentioning that position, I think that's a huge
• 20:42
  Speaker 3: compliment to him.
• 20:43
  Speaker 2: So I agree with you.
• 20:44
  Speaker 3: Those are those are all locks, and I think we're
• 20:47
  Speaker 3: we're looking good at that wing back position.
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: John Tolkien is the only other name I have in
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: the mix here, and I was kind of pouring through
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: potential options, like I don't see anybody from the U
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: twenty World Cup that just passed that is close enough
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: to really challenging for the World Cups. Like again, Peyton Miller,
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: I think he has a brilliant future. I don't think
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: he's ready to really be called in the mix for
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: this situation. And that's just me trying to figure out, all, right,
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: Devil's advocate, who could be if there's an injury that
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: changes things, You're gonna have to find somebody Because going
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: was just three wingbacks, and while there was versatility, it's
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: a way I can drop back. There are a number
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: of players who can do different roles. You still would
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: need another kind of natural at that spot, but I
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: just don't. I don't really see anybody else. And again,
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: this is all assuming health. Right, we can't plan for injuries.
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: We can worry about it and you know, try to
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: have contingencies, but I don't think it's particularly fun or
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: exciting to be sitting here. You know, well, if this
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: person gets hurt, then that happens. Like think you cross
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: that bridge when you get there. But we're all assuming
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: health and you know, decent form at least here for
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: all of these conversations. So wingbacks I think is pretty straightforward.
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: Central midfield is I think the most competitive race for
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: roster spots because there are more deserving players than there
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: will be RUSS spots available. And this is where we're
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: gonna get into the alchemy of building a roster, because
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: do you bring an extra central midfielder or an extra
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: winger or an extra forward, Like every position is gonna
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: need a bare minimum of you know, X amount of guy,
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: Like you're not gonna bring less than three goalkeepers and
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: you're not gonna bring less than four center backs. But
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: there are different ways where you could bring an extra
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: midfielder or an extra winger at the sacrifice of another spot.
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: So I'm very curious to see where Pochatino goes there.
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: But for me, this starts with Tyler Adams talking about
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: this with center back with Chris Richards. Tyler Adams, Richards
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: and then Christian Polisk I think are the three most
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: important teams players to this team at the World Cup.
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: And Tyler Adams is in and of himself a one
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: man defensive extinguisher in transition, and it's more about all
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: these rest of these guys. Okay, who fits best next
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: to Tyler?
• 22:50
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean I couldn't agree with you more. You know,
• 22:53
  Speaker 3: Tyler Adams is really I want to say, a little
• 22:56
  Speaker 3: bit of the lungs of the team. You know, that's
• 22:58
  Speaker 3: sort of how he plays, and and and you're also
• 23:02
  Speaker 3: right about the fact that this is the most competitive
• 23:05
  Speaker 3: position because you could legitimately pick six or seven players
• 23:09
  Speaker 3: here and they would all be deserving. It's just a
• 23:12
  Speaker 3: matter of who likes what player for what situation. And
• 23:16
  Speaker 3: this is where you know, I go back to the
• 23:19
  Speaker 3: I think it depends a little bit on the draw
• 23:21
  Speaker 3: and what we get to start, because those are those
• 23:24
  Speaker 3: are the little differences that that could that could in
• 23:27
  Speaker 3: the end tip the scale for one player or or another.
• 23:30
  Speaker 3: I think, you know, center midfield, there's no question for
• 23:32
  Speaker 3: me that obviously Adams, McKinney and Tessament for me are locks.
• 23:36
  Speaker 3: Testament is likely for me, the best compliment to Adams.
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: Uh.
• 23:41
  Speaker 3: He's got great feet and and he can also go
• 23:44
  Speaker 3: box to box. You know, we told the story last
• 23:47
  Speaker 3: week about how Testament can pretty much do everything, and
• 23:50
  Speaker 3: he really can, and I think people are just starting
• 23:53
  Speaker 3: to see the beginning.
• 23:54
  Speaker 2: Of where he what he can be.
• 23:55
  Speaker 3: Having said that, we we always have to have the
• 23:58
  Speaker 3: respect for Weston McKinney because Western McKinney, you know, let's
• 24:02
  Speaker 3: not forget you know, he's at Juventus. He has started
• 24:05
  Speaker 3: and I think played every minute of every Champions League
• 24:08
  Speaker 3: game so far this year. He's playing big games weekend
• 24:11
  Speaker 3: and week out. And obviously the World Cup is big games,
• 24:14
  Speaker 3: and in big games you want big players. Western McKinney
• 24:17
  Speaker 3: is a big player and you need them in there.
• 24:19
  Speaker 3: So I think having said that those are those are locks,
• 24:22
  Speaker 3: and then you look at the rest of the equation, right,
• 24:25
  Speaker 3: and that gets difficult because for me, and I know
• 24:30
  Speaker 3: people are going to disagree with this, but I think
• 24:32
  Speaker 3: all coaches are different. For me, I want to have
• 24:36
  Speaker 3: a guy like Moosa in there, and only because he
• 24:38
  Speaker 3: has been a big player.
• 24:40
  Speaker 2: He's still a younger guy. He's an Atalanta.
• 24:43
  Speaker 3: I think he still has a chance to get into
• 24:45
  Speaker 3: that team and to do something big and more importantly,
• 24:48
  Speaker 3: compete through the winter when some of the MLS players
• 24:51
  Speaker 3: don't have an opportunity to have those competitive games week
• 24:55
  Speaker 3: in and week out. And you know, I'm thinking of myself.
• 24:59
  Speaker 3: I'm in the second round of the World Cup. Somebody
• 25:01
  Speaker 3: gets injured, I have to throw somebody in. I have
• 25:04
  Speaker 3: no concerns about throwing someone like Musa in and I
• 25:07
  Speaker 3: wouldn't be afraid that the moment is going to be
• 25:09
  Speaker 3: too big. And that has a huge value for me.
• 25:12
  Speaker 3: So I would have to say that for me, he's
• 25:15
  Speaker 3: still one of the guys in there. And then after
• 25:17
  Speaker 3: that you kind of have to pick right. You have Rodin,
• 25:20
  Speaker 3: who's a great team guy, and he also has done
• 25:22
  Speaker 3: excellent when he's coming.
• 25:23
  Speaker 2: So he's deserving.
• 25:25
  Speaker 3: Burholter has done excellent when he's come in, and he's
• 25:28
  Speaker 3: a great, you know, set piece guy and all that stuff.
• 25:32
  Speaker 3: Although I look back at the roster and he was
• 25:35
  Speaker 3: also in there in the Switzerland game. He was also
• 25:37
  Speaker 3: in there in the in the South Korea game, So
• 25:39
  Speaker 3: you have to look at the draw in order to
• 25:41
  Speaker 3: decide that. And then you still have Johnny Cardozo. I mean,
• 25:45
  Speaker 3: Johnny Cardoso plays for Athletico Madrid. We can't not notice that.
• 25:49
  Speaker 3: So if he gets into that roster and somehow he
• 25:52
  Speaker 3: becomes a starter there, how can you not consider him?
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: Right?
• 25:55
  Speaker 3: He has to be part of the pictures so very
• 25:58
  Speaker 3: crowded in there.
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: I want to go a couple point by point here.
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: So you think Testaman is the better fit next to
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: Adams than McKinney, like his profile and his attributes fit better,
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: particularly in a double pivot. I do.
• 26:10
  Speaker 2: I do?
• 26:10
  Speaker 3: I do because I think I think he gives a
• 26:12
  Speaker 3: little bit more offensively and he can still do the
• 26:15
  Speaker 3: defensive work.
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: That's where I'm leaning to as well, because I think
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: Wes McKinney, as like a number eight in a four
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: to three three makes so much more. It's better for
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: his best qualities than being a double pivot, particularly where
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: Adams one of his specialty is defensive transition first and foremost.
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: But when you want to press if he can just
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: if somebody can hold the space, and he can, and
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: he's like freed to like lead a press and go
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: a little bit more aggressive. McKenny is somebody who also
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: is best when he's moving and he's all action. So
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: if you have Tanner Testsman next to Tyler Adams, that
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: frees up Adams, Okay, go hunt for the ball. I'll
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: be covering you. I'll be holding the space. And then
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: also with Tyler Adams, he's got limitations in possession. Tanner
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: Testsaman is a better like keep lying playmaker than McKenny.
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: McKenny is better at crashing the box and getting forward,
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: his intelligence in his runs and timing and motor. I
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: just think that those qualities are better in a four
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: to three three than a three four to two one
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: where you're a double pivot and you have to be
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: sitting next to a midfield er. So again, I could
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: go both ways because McKenny is so very good, but
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: I think stylistically Testman would be the better fit. And
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: that comes down to the philosophical argument. Do you want
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: your best eleven players and try to figure it out,
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: or do you want what makes the most sense for
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: the collective, for the group, for the system. And I
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: think that's Testament in that situation. On Johnny Cardoso, he's
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: the closest in terms of defensive acumen and quality to
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: Tyler Adams. There is no replacement for Tyler Adams. Let
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: me be abundantly clear. Nobody covers the ground that he does.
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: Nobody does what he does on the field. Johnny Cardoso
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: can be that defensive shield in a better way than Testman. Again,
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: Testament is a better passer. But that's kind of where
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: I keep coming back to that. Cardoso a Athletico Madrid.
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: If he's ever able to replicate his club form four country,
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: he should be a lock, but he hasn't been because
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: he just hasn't shown that for the United States, and
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: he's been injured as well. So I would put Johnny
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: Cardoso ahead of Unus Musa because I'd think that there
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: are less players like Cardozo then like Musa. But Musa
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: was not just a starter at the last World Cup
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: at a young age, so one of the best players,
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: and he was one of the guys. To your points,
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: have you just felt safe? If you're in trouble, you
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: play it into Musa. It doesn't matter if he's got
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: a defender on him. It doesn't matter if you skip
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: it at his shit. I trust him to bring it
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: down and dribble out of pressure or make the right decision.
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: And he's just become completely lost after that move to
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: ac Milan, and then now he's at Atlanta and not
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: really playing as much as hoped. He's been shuttled out
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: to like a wide midfield role like he was a
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: little bit at Valencia four years ago. So it's really
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: confound and given how good we know this player is,
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: he just hasn't shown it at his club.
• 28:55
  Speaker 3: There's one more player that we didn't mention, and that's
• 28:58
  Speaker 3: Aiden Morris, right, because let's.
• 29:00
  Speaker 2: Not forget that.
• 29:02
  Speaker 3: And this is why we could actually have a show
• 29:04
  Speaker 3: just on the central midfield role here, because because I'd
• 29:08
  Speaker 3: tell Aiden Morris, you know, the season he's having at
• 29:12
  Speaker 3: Burrow and what what and how difficult that is where
• 29:16
  Speaker 3: he is, and that he weak in and week out
• 29:18
  Speaker 3: just sweats it out, you know, and in a very
• 29:21
  Speaker 3: difficult championship. I wouldn't count him out either, you know.
• 29:26
  Speaker 3: So like he's he still plays every week, he still
• 29:29
  Speaker 3: plays hard every week and and he can help defensively
• 29:33
  Speaker 3: in and again, you know, it's a good point you
• 29:35
  Speaker 3: made about the difference between Testament and and McKinney, where
• 29:39
  Speaker 3: you know, obviously Testament can help you in a lot
• 29:41
  Speaker 3: more ways, in particular when you have the ball. But
• 29:44
  Speaker 3: I also think that that's that's up to the coach, right,
• 29:47
  Speaker 3: because there's no wrong there, And it depends on whether
• 29:50
  Speaker 3: and we're going to be in a group where we're
• 29:51
  Speaker 3: gonna be expected to have the ball more or we're
• 29:54
  Speaker 3: gonna be able to defend more.
• 29:55
  Speaker 2: So that's why I.
• 29:56
  Speaker 3: Think the draw will be, uh, well, we'll make up
• 30:00
  Speaker 3: those little differences.
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: Yeah, again, that is an interesting point that I hadn't
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: really considered of Hey, what what will the group stage
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: look like? And and beyond that, it's just gonna be
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: so hard to pick between Burholt to Rodin Cordozo, Morris Musa.
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: Like Shaan Zawatski I don't really think should be in
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: the mix on I'm only saying his name because Pochettino
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: keeps calling him up. He keeps on getting injured before
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: the camp, but he continues to be called up. James
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: Sands has gotten a call up again. I think that
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: Zawatskin Sands are so far away, but I don't know.
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: Weird things happen in terms of form, and I think
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: Pochettino has shown he's not afraid to bench convention conventionally
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: who we think or started like again, it's still crazy
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: that like Musa is in with the team or a
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: crazy concept. I think on merit it has been the
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: right decision. Western McKinney was left out in November, so
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: it Postino can be a little bit of a wild card.
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: That's why like I'm so careful with like locks because
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: I think he's shown that he doesn't really care and
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: it's gonna keep changing, but moving forward attacking midfield or
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: says wingers talking about the two line in the in
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: the three four to two one, or if they tweak
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: anything and there's moments where they need to go with
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: two proper wingers, there's plenty of options here. Christian poolisic
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: obviously a locke, obviously the most important attacking piece to
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: this group. What he does in big moments and the
• 31:13
  Speaker 1: quality in the final third will be a deciding factor
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: to how far this team goes. He is up for it,
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: He's in his prime. He is insane for him with
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: ac Milan generally over the last two years, whenever he's available,
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: he's been their best attacker. Head of Portugal's Raphael Aaau.
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: It's a crazy sentence to say, and we take for
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: granted as in this is an American player who is
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: clearly the most important attacker for acm LAN. For me,
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: so Christian Poulisic, then Malik Tillman and Tim Weya are
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: also locks. I think that they're gonna bring six here,
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: Tap and I believe you agree with me. So I
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: think those three are locks, and you could if Gioranas fit,
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: I think he's probably a lock too good because everything
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: we said last week that special quality he has. Then
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: pick two of Diego Luna, Alejandros and Dejas, Brendan Aronson
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: and maybe Jack McGlynn.
• 32:00
  Speaker 2: That's exactly right.
• 32:00
  Speaker 3: I mean, I think it depends on the formation. Right
• 32:03
  Speaker 3: now we're going into this three four two one, which
• 32:06
  Speaker 3: is what Pochetino is playing. But you also have to
• 32:09
  Speaker 3: think about, when you're a coach, about changing the formation
• 32:11
  Speaker 3: because that's likely what may happen according to certain results.
• 32:15
  Speaker 3: Right so you may have to go into a more
• 32:19
  Speaker 3: offensive type of setup. And if you go to you know,
• 32:21
  Speaker 3: three up top all of a sudden, then you have
• 32:23
  Speaker 3: to have the players for that, and you have to
• 32:25
  Speaker 3: be prepared for that.
• 32:26
  Speaker 2: I haven't said that.
• 32:27
  Speaker 3: There's no question Polistic, Tillman and Wea are locks. You
• 32:31
  Speaker 3: need those guys. They can They all three of them
• 32:33
  Speaker 3: can make a difference. I would add Giorina to that
• 32:37
  Speaker 3: for all of the things that we mentioned last week,
• 32:39
  Speaker 3: including that he and Polisic are the I think the
• 32:42
  Speaker 3: best final third playmakers.
• 32:45
  Speaker 2: They can make plays. You know.
• 32:47
  Speaker 3: I think it's it'll just be a matter of whether
• 32:49
  Speaker 3: I think on Geo's case, it'll be a matter of
• 32:51
  Speaker 3: whether he is number one fit, like let's just say
• 32:55
  Speaker 3: by fit, let's just say an uninjured during that side.
• 32:58
  Speaker 3: So obviously he makes the team, and the other is
• 33:01
  Speaker 3: hopefully he gets to play a bunch of games. Because
• 33:04
  Speaker 3: he's still at twenty three, he's still a young player.
• 33:06
  Speaker 3: He needs to play ninety minute games. And unless he
• 33:09
  Speaker 3: can get those ten twelve ninety minute games between now
• 33:13
  Speaker 3: and the World Cup, I don't see him as a
• 33:14
  Speaker 3: starter here, but I do see him coming in the
• 33:17
  Speaker 3: lass fifteen twenty minutes and making a difference in games.
• 33:20
  Speaker 3: Are we likely going to need a goal? So I think,
• 33:23
  Speaker 3: no question a lot. The rest of it is difficult.
• 33:25
  Speaker 3: You know what you get out of Aaronson, it's going
• 33:27
  Speaker 3: to be that hard work pressing, you know style. That's
• 33:31
  Speaker 3: not necessarily a position you want off the bench, you know,
• 33:35
  Speaker 3: like that's normally a starter that does that and just
• 33:38
  Speaker 3: works for you know, seventy eighty minutes and then you
• 33:41
  Speaker 3: put somebody else in. So I'm not sure how he
• 33:44
  Speaker 3: fits into that. Sindajaz has a lot of quality. The
• 33:47
  Speaker 3: other thing about sinde has I think that's a little
• 33:49
  Speaker 3: bit more specials. He's really good around the box, he's
• 33:52
  Speaker 3: a good finisher, he has a good understanding of the game,
• 33:56
  Speaker 3: he's smart, plays for a big club obviously under a
• 34:00
  Speaker 3: lot of pressure every week. That makes a difference too.
• 34:03
  Speaker 3: So I think he's certainly in the picture. And then
• 34:06
  Speaker 3: you know, it would almost be how can I say,
• 34:10
  Speaker 3: you know, with Posatino's trust in Luna and and sort
• 34:14
  Speaker 3: of Luna, you know, it's just like we have Tim
• 34:16
  Speaker 3: Reeen being the bridge for the whole team. Luna has been,
• 34:19
  Speaker 3: to me the bridge between the soft team that we
• 34:22
  Speaker 3: used to have and the.
• 34:24
  Speaker 2: Harder US team that we've become.
• 34:27
  Speaker 3: So we've gone back to being that hard American team
• 34:30
  Speaker 3: that we used to be in the past, and I
• 34:32
  Speaker 3: think Luna has been the bridge for that.
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: I like that point, and he's believe him and Orston
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: and Freeze. I think I've been the three most used
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: players in this calendar year, and it's just be hard
• 34:45
  Speaker 1: to see him not being on the roster. And that's
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: another good point of just his mentality, and he has
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: been part of that mentality switch. So again, I do
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: think that there's gonna be six. We'll get to the
• 34:54
  Speaker 1: full roster very soon. But the last position is center forwards,
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: and I think this is one of the places we
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: have a small disagreement in that I think Balgin is
• 35:01
  Speaker 1: the only lock because in a World Cup you're at
• 35:05
  Speaker 1: this position more than any other position. If somebody gets
• 35:08
  Speaker 1: in form, I think Hodgi Wright and Riccardo Peppy have
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: the inside track. But if between March and May, Patrick
• 35:16
  Speaker 1: Jermonk scores ten goals and ten championship games, if Josh
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: Sargent scores ten goals in ten championship games, and Brian
• 35:22
  Speaker 1: White starts the twenty twenty six MS season on fire,
• 35:25
  Speaker 1: if Peppi and Wright go cold, I think it's gonna
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: be Balligan plus some combination of whoever is in the
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: best form or if Right and Peppy are just adequate,
• 35:34
  Speaker 1: but if Ajimong White Sergeant, or if there's a mystery
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: player to come through here gets extremely hot, they're gonna
• 35:41
  Speaker 1: be on the plane.
• 35:42
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 35:42
  Speaker 3: I don't disagree with that, but I just like to
• 35:44
  Speaker 3: have my opinions on the line a little bit more.
• 35:46
  Speaker 2: I'm taking the risk. I'm taking the risk on this.
• 35:50
  Speaker 3: I don't disagree that. I'm not could have a great
• 35:53
  Speaker 3: second half of the season there. However, I don't really
• 35:56
  Speaker 3: see that happening. I just don't, and I'm trying to
• 36:00
  Speaker 3: make the best prediction i can looking into the future now,
• 36:03
  Speaker 3: and I think this is what it's going to look like.
• 36:05
  Speaker 3: I've always been a Josh Sargent fan, and not just
• 36:10
  Speaker 3: that I had an opportunity to coach him in two
• 36:12
  Speaker 3: separate cycles. I brought him up as a younger player,
• 36:15
  Speaker 3: which is unusual for the U twenties. I brought him
• 36:18
  Speaker 3: up to play. He actually, you know, this is an
• 36:20
  Speaker 3: interesting thing about Josh Sargent. Joss Sargent played the U
• 36:23
  Speaker 3: twenty World Cup before he played the U seventeen World Cup. Yes,
• 36:27
  Speaker 3: so I watched him play in the U seventeen qualifier,
• 36:30
  Speaker 3: and I remember talking to John Hackworth and saying to John, John,
• 36:34
  Speaker 3: listen to do you mind if I'm gonna take this
• 36:36
  Speaker 3: kid to the U twenty World Cup that's in a
• 36:38
  Speaker 3: couple of months. So he's like, no that, you know,
• 36:41
  Speaker 3: let me talk to his parents a little bit.
• 36:43
  Speaker 2: So so he talked to.
• 36:44
  Speaker 3: Josh's parents and then I call the parents myself and
• 36:47
  Speaker 3: I was like, I got to take them.
• 36:49
  Speaker 2: I got he's ready for the U twenties. I know
• 36:51
  Speaker 2: he's sixteen, but he's ready to go.
• 36:53
  Speaker 3: So I do have a soft spot for Josh because he's.
• 36:56
  Speaker 2: A very very smart number nine.
• 36:59
  Speaker 3: So I'm hoping that he can compete for this spot
• 37:02
  Speaker 3: and he still has a chance, but at this point
• 37:04
  Speaker 3: the other guys are are are way ahead and likely
• 37:08
  Speaker 3: have a distance that's hard to make up.
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it seems that Pochattino does not have the same
• 37:13
  Speaker 1: fondness for Sergeant. He has gotten called back in when
• 37:16
  Speaker 1: he's been in great form, but that's not always happened,
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: and he didn't have a good showing in September and
• 37:20
  Speaker 1: he hasn't been back since. We'll see what happens. And and
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: again Pochatino, I don't think that he's that stubborn where
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: he's gonna be like, well, I didn't think you were
• 37:27
  Speaker 1: good before, so we'll see. I think that is the
• 37:29
  Speaker 1: openness and competitiveness of this group. So that's all positions.
• 37:33
  Speaker 1: We're gonna get to Tabramas's twenty twenty six World Cup
• 37:36
  Speaker 1: roster prediction right after a quick break. We will be
• 37:39
  Speaker 1: right back with that, then some inside the locker room
• 37:41
  Speaker 1: stories and much more. Please rate review, Subscribe to Inside
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: American Soccer with Tom Bogan tab Ramos wherever you get
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: you podcasts. Welcome back into the show. After going through
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: position by position, the questions, all the talking points, all
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: of the decisions that Mariso Pochatino and his staff will
• 38:04
  Speaker 1: have to make in the summer, toad Ramos, here, as
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: we sit at the end of November, what is your
• 38:09
  Speaker 1: twenty twenty six World Cup squad for the United States?
• 38:13
  Speaker 3: All right, this is certainly a tough one, but well
• 38:15
  Speaker 3: we'll give it a shot.
• 38:16
  Speaker 1: So and goal.
• 38:17
  Speaker 3: I'm gonna go with Freeze, Turner and Schelti in the back.
• 38:22
  Speaker 3: We're gonna have a back three as we're I'm selecting
• 38:24
  Speaker 3: here in the three four two one that's most likely scenario.
• 38:27
  Speaker 3: I'm gonna go with Miles Robinson and Alex Freeman on
• 38:32
  Speaker 3: the right side, Richard's in the middle, McKenzie and Reem
• 38:35
  Speaker 3: on the left side as the wingbacks, destined Scali on
• 38:39
  Speaker 3: one side, although Scalli and Freeman I think are interchangeable
• 38:42
  Speaker 3: for me, That's why I put him there. On the
• 38:45
  Speaker 3: opposite side, I have Jedi Robinson and Max Arfsen as
• 38:49
  Speaker 3: central midfielders. I'm gonna have Adams McKinney, Tessaman Moosa, and
• 38:56
  Speaker 3: I'm leaning towards roll Down as the other one as
• 39:00
  Speaker 3: the two withdrawn strikers let's say wingers types Polisic, Tillman,
• 39:07
  Speaker 3: Rain Nowwea, and I'm gonna go with Zendejas and Luna
• 39:12
  Speaker 3: as the other two and up front Balligan, Peppi and Right.
• 39:17
  Speaker 1: I think that's a really strong looking squad. And for me,
• 39:21
  Speaker 1: the ones that tap tell me if I'm wrong, just
• 39:25
  Speaker 1: just by eyeballing it. That would leave the first cuts
• 39:27
  Speaker 1: air quote would be Aida Morris, Austin, Trusty and Patrick Adjamon.
• 39:34
  Speaker 3: Likely and Berholz right Burholters also fighting position.
• 39:38
  Speaker 1: The first one.
• 39:39
  Speaker 3: Yeah, and he's right there, so so yeah, it's it's
• 39:42
  Speaker 3: tough no matter how you look at it. But but
• 39:44
  Speaker 3: remember what we talked about at the beginning. Right likely
• 39:47
  Speaker 3: the last three or four players on the roster, Postino
• 39:51
  Speaker 3: may may go with something completely different. I don't know
• 39:53
  Speaker 3: if he goes to Securius from the U twenties. I
• 39:55
  Speaker 3: don't know if he goes to Brooklyn Rains or Kramaski
• 39:59
  Speaker 3: or you well, because these are the things you think
• 40:01
  Speaker 3: about sometimes at the end of the roster.
• 40:02
  Speaker 2: You're building for the future.
• 40:04
  Speaker 3: So we don't know on these, but yeah, it's it's
• 40:06
  Speaker 3: gonna be tough those final three or four spots.
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: Of course, and I'm gonna give my starting eleven here
• 40:13
  Speaker 1: that will change probably fifteen times between now and the summer.
• 40:16
  Speaker 1: But Matt Freeze and gold in goal, Miles Robinson, Chris Richards,
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: and I'm still gonna give it to Tim Reim as
• 40:23
  Speaker 1: a left sided center back until further notice. Wingbacks would
• 40:27
  Speaker 1: be dest and Arfston, though I keep trying to talk
• 40:29
  Speaker 1: to myself into Tim Waya as the right wing back.
• 40:32
  Speaker 1: Dest I think is it provides too much quality to
• 40:35
  Speaker 1: be left out of that spot holding midfielders. I will
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: go Adams and Testament, as we spoke about earlier. I
• 40:40
  Speaker 1: think that Testament is the better fit next to Adams,
• 40:42
  Speaker 1: attacking midfielders Pulisic and Wea, which means Millie Tillman is
• 40:46
  Speaker 1: a tough luck drop to the bench. Him and Raina
• 40:48
  Speaker 1: I think will be appearing in all games, whether they
• 40:50
  Speaker 1: are starting or not. And then up top it'd be
• 40:52
  Speaker 1: Balgain ahead of Pepier, right.
• 40:54
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean you can't can't argue with that. That's
• 40:56
  Speaker 3: a strong lineup. That's pretty much the best that we
• 40:59
  Speaker 3: can do. And yeah, I would look forward to seeing that.
• 41:04
  Speaker 2: That lineup in our first game next June.
• 41:07
  Speaker 1: Praying for no injuries. We've been sitting here always trying
• 41:10
  Speaker 1: to look at the future r what it would remember
• 41:14
  Speaker 1: leading towards twenty twenty two, and then even after it
• 41:17
  Speaker 1: it was man, it's gonna be Pulisic and Raina and
• 41:21
  Speaker 1: Adams and McKinney and Sergeant and Anthony Robinson, and I
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: don't know if those six guys started a single game together.
• 41:28
  Speaker 1: So I'm hoping for some better injury luck and some
• 41:31
  Speaker 1: better form to make this all happen, because it was
• 41:33
  Speaker 1: always the elusive when when we get our best eleven,
• 41:36
  Speaker 1: when we got our best eleven, and then it never happened.
• 41:38
  Speaker 1: And that's how Again, a guy like Brendon Aronson didn't
• 41:41
  Speaker 1: really fit into the best eleven discussions in the past,
• 41:44
  Speaker 1: but he's always been a valuable squad player. He still
• 41:45
  Speaker 1: has a chance to make this roster. He's got like
• 41:47
  Speaker 1: fifty three caps because he is always fit, he is
• 41:50
  Speaker 1: always consistent, and you know what he's getting with the
• 41:52
  Speaker 1: work great. So while we talk about these best elevens,
• 41:55
  Speaker 1: I hope that we get to see that group that
• 41:56
  Speaker 1: we're just naming here, But unfortunately of recent history is
• 41:59
  Speaker 1: a guy we might not.
• 42:01
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's unlikely.
• 42:02
  Speaker 3: Actually it's unlikely that we'll see that starting eleven, but
• 42:05
  Speaker 3: we'd love to see it. Yeah, there are always injuries,
• 42:09
  Speaker 3: you know, that's the difficult part. I think if there's
• 42:12
  Speaker 3: one thing that at this point we have to give
• 42:14
  Speaker 3: Pushatino a lot of credit for is the fact that
• 42:16
  Speaker 3: he has built death in this roster. Yet I think
• 42:19
  Speaker 3: the team doesn't drop that much no matter who's not
• 42:23
  Speaker 3: in there, right, I would take exception to potentially Adams
• 42:28
  Speaker 3: and Richards. Those two spots really hard to replace. Other
• 42:32
  Speaker 3: than that, and obviously, of course you know Polisic being
• 42:36
  Speaker 3: our best player, but I think can be replaced by
• 42:40
  Speaker 3: what we've seen so far. So yeah, I think a
• 42:43
  Speaker 3: lot of credit to Pushatino on his staff for haven't
• 42:46
  Speaker 3: built you know, a roster that I think is ready
• 42:48
  Speaker 3: to go.
• 42:49
  Speaker 1: Let's talk more about Tyler Adams and we're gonna go
• 42:51
  Speaker 1: inside the locker room where Tap tells a story from
• 42:53
  Speaker 1: us playing your coaching days. Today, we're gonna stick with
• 42:55
  Speaker 1: the coaching days. And Tyler Adams was a shining start
• 42:58
  Speaker 1: with the New York Red Bulls academy. When you talk
• 43:01
  Speaker 1: to people around that team when they were bringing him
• 43:03
  Speaker 1: into the first team, people, if not looking at his
• 43:07
  Speaker 1: baby face at the time as a sixteen year old boy,
• 43:09
  Speaker 1: you'd never know it by the way he played. I
• 43:10
  Speaker 1: remember when he was sixteen and he played in a
• 43:13
  Speaker 1: friendly against Chelsea for the Red Bulls and he you know,
• 43:17
  Speaker 1: it was very clear, Oh this is this is a guy.
• 43:18
  Speaker 1: This is a guy with a really, really big future.
• 43:20
  Speaker 1: So the U twenty one Cup is the proving ground
• 43:23
  Speaker 1: for these best talents within the pool when they're available
• 43:27
  Speaker 1: for selection. So Tap, tell us about when Tyler was
• 43:30
  Speaker 1: first working with you with the U twenty national team.
• 43:33
  Speaker 3: Yeah, Tyler was a really interesting one because you know,
• 43:36
  Speaker 3: as I mentioned before about Josh Sargent, you know, jumping
• 43:40
  Speaker 3: an age group and going directly to the U twenties.
• 43:42
  Speaker 3: It's not something that happens often because we want players,
• 43:46
  Speaker 3: at least at the time when I was a technical director,
• 43:48
  Speaker 3: we wanted all the youth national players to succeed where
• 43:51
  Speaker 3: they are.
• 43:51
  Speaker 2: It's not just a matter of.
• 43:52
  Speaker 3: Getting moved up just to get a few minutes here
• 43:54
  Speaker 3: or there. We're only moving up players if the players
• 43:57
  Speaker 3: are actually going to play and be a significant part
• 44:00
  Speaker 3: of that team. I think that's where the value is.
• 44:03
  Speaker 3: And I remember calling Jesse Marsh because I had played,
• 44:06
  Speaker 3: you know, I had watched our U seventeens play, which
• 44:09
  Speaker 3: at the time we're still coached by I think John
• 44:12
  Speaker 3: Hackworth still and I remember watching Tyler Adams play and
• 44:15
  Speaker 3: I was like, wow, this this kid, he can It's
• 44:18
  Speaker 3: so easy for him to get around, right. So I
• 44:22
  Speaker 3: called Jesse Marsh, he was the coach of the Red
• 44:24
  Speaker 3: Bulls at the time, and spoke to him about him
• 44:26
  Speaker 3: and I said, hey, you know, I'm thinking of bringing
• 44:28
  Speaker 3: him up to you twenties. What do you think about this,
• 44:31
  Speaker 3: you know type thing? And Jesse saying, hey, I don't
• 44:34
  Speaker 3: have any problems throwing them into the pro games here,
• 44:37
  Speaker 3: so I think he's gonna be.
• 44:38
  Speaker 2: Just fine with you.
• 44:39
  Speaker 3: And I was like, okay, well, you know, that's that's
• 44:42
  Speaker 3: great to hear, because I you know, sometimes as a coach,
• 44:44
  Speaker 3: you obviously talked to all the coaches, but you want
• 44:47
  Speaker 3: a little bit of a reassurance from their own clubs,
• 44:50
  Speaker 3: because that's at the end of the day, the club
• 44:52
  Speaker 3: coaches who sees the player every day, right, and how
• 44:54
  Speaker 3: hard they work. And so I brought Tyler Adams in
• 44:57
  Speaker 3: a little bit skeptical still, although I I wanted to
• 45:00
  Speaker 3: give him a chance, because once you move them up,
• 45:02
  Speaker 3: it's hard for a player to get moved back down
• 45:04
  Speaker 3: to their own age group.
• 45:05
  Speaker 2: And so I brought him in.
• 45:07
  Speaker 3: And I remember we had a game in Carson, you know,
• 45:10
  Speaker 3: right outside of the Galaxy Stadium. At the time, it
• 45:12
  Speaker 3: was called the Home Depot Center, right, and we have
• 45:16
  Speaker 3: a game there. I forgot who we were playing. It
• 45:18
  Speaker 3: was a scrimmage. It might have been against another country,
• 45:20
  Speaker 3: but it was a scrimmage. And I put Tyler Adams
• 45:22
  Speaker 3: in the first half, and I was like, you know,
• 45:25
  Speaker 3: he's a young kid, but let me just let me
• 45:26
  Speaker 3: just start them anyway and see what happens. If I
• 45:29
  Speaker 3: were to tell you when we came out at halftime,
• 45:31
  Speaker 3: I gave him the captain's band for the second half.
• 45:34
  Speaker 2: I mean, I mean, he just ate up the field.
• 45:38
  Speaker 2: He ate it up.
• 45:39
  Speaker 3: He was telling everybody else what to do. I mean,
• 45:42
  Speaker 3: I thought he would be a little bit shy. He
• 45:45
  Speaker 3: was the furthest from So you know, I'm fortunate enough
• 45:49
  Speaker 3: that I've had an opportunity to be around a lot
• 45:51
  Speaker 3: of these players and coach a lot of these players.
• 45:54
  Speaker 2: Tyler is certainly unique.
• 45:56
  Speaker 3: He takes things to the next level, doesn't take no
• 45:59
  Speaker 3: for an answer, and he goes after every ball like.
• 46:02
  Speaker 2: He's gonna win every one of them.
• 46:03
  Speaker 3: So amazing that the Tyler Adams Uh sort of I
• 46:08
  Speaker 3: don't want to say finding because I didn't find him,
• 46:10
  Speaker 3: but the decision to bring him up ended up being
• 46:13
  Speaker 3: a really easy one.
• 46:14
  Speaker 1: And tap, he's like the same exact way in training
• 46:17
  Speaker 1: from what I've heard. Is that accurate with Uh? When
• 46:19
  Speaker 1: you were coaching.
• 46:19
  Speaker 2: Him, He's exactly the same way in training. He's just
• 46:23
  Speaker 2: as hard.
• 46:24
  Speaker 3: I would even debate that eating breakfast, he's the same.
• 46:27
  Speaker 3: He gets there as fast as you can and.
• 46:29
  Speaker 2: Everything, everything is full speed. Everything's full speed.
• 46:33
  Speaker 1: Love to have those one speed, You'll love.
• 46:35
  Speaker 2: To have these players on your team.
• 46:37
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and with his like again, it's it's super interesting
• 46:41
  Speaker 1: to me, like at that level as players are developing physically,
• 46:44
  Speaker 1: but they're developing mentally too, And it sounds like at
• 46:46
  Speaker 1: the U twenty level, it's difficult to say something like
• 46:48
  Speaker 1: coach on the field, but it seems like Tyler's brain
• 46:52
  Speaker 1: could match how fast his likes with the ground he covers,
• 46:54
  Speaker 1: which again at that level is is pretty rare.
• 46:58
  Speaker 3: Yeah, no question, and and and don't forget that sometimes
• 47:00
  Speaker 3: we think, okay, twenty three year old going to the
• 47:02
  Speaker 3: senior national team has a sort of a big step
• 47:06
  Speaker 3: to take us to some veterans.
• 47:08
  Speaker 2: Around or whatever else.
• 47:09
  Speaker 3: But the difference between let's say a fifteen year old
• 47:12
  Speaker 3: and a nineteen year old, it's really big, you know, mentally,
• 47:17
  Speaker 3: you know. And when he could come into like an
• 47:20
  Speaker 3: under twenty camp and start running within five minutes, start
• 47:23
  Speaker 3: running the show and coining whoties to go where, I mean,
• 47:27
  Speaker 3: you know you have someone.
• 47:28
  Speaker 2: Special there for sure.
• 47:30
  Speaker 1: Yeah, what a leader, future captain. Incredible early career at
• 47:35
  Speaker 1: the Red Bulls and then off to Europe and now
• 47:36
  Speaker 1: he's at Bournemouth. What a what a special player he is,
• 47:39
  Speaker 1: and he was alsome at the last World Cup and
• 47:41
  Speaker 1: hoping for you know, further health for him, while that
• 47:44
  Speaker 1: was an issue previously and kind of when he went
• 47:46
  Speaker 1: to Leipzig, when he left the Red Bulls, he was
• 47:49
  Speaker 1: fit in for him for the World Cup. He's really
• 47:51
  Speaker 1: good and it's been it's been good on that front
• 47:53
  Speaker 1: since and hopefully that may continue and he continues to
• 47:57
  Speaker 1: play all the minutes he's doing for Bournemouth. What a player.
• 48:00
  Speaker 1: Let's go inside the notebook here with a couple three stories,
• 48:02
  Speaker 1: whether I've broken them or things that you need to
• 48:05
  Speaker 1: know around the national team. The first one isn't directly
• 48:07
  Speaker 1: related to the national team, but I think it is
• 48:09
  Speaker 1: big news and something that will have an impact moving forward.
• 48:13
  Speaker 1: Columbus Crew head coach wilf for Nanci is going to
• 48:14
  Speaker 1: be named Celtic's new manager. It is interesting to me
• 48:17
  Speaker 1: in a number of ways. One, he firmly, firmly deserves it.
• 48:21
  Speaker 1: He's French born, but he came to Canada when he
• 48:24
  Speaker 1: was a young Coloy. He was coaching like amateur soccer
• 48:26
  Speaker 1: before he worked his way into Montreal and then to
• 48:29
  Speaker 1: the Columbus Crew. He is a defining manager of this
• 48:32
  Speaker 1: era of Major League Soccer. Aiden Morris credits him with
• 48:36
  Speaker 1: his development. Darlington Nagbee played probably the best soccer of
• 48:39
  Speaker 1: his very very great career under him, so Watsky has
• 48:43
  Speaker 1: gotten much better. So Watsky and Orson would be nowhere
• 48:45
  Speaker 1: near the picture if not for the development elite that
• 48:48
  Speaker 1: they took under Wilfrid Nanci and everything that they did. Personally,
• 48:51
  Speaker 1: he's gonna go to Celtic. Will he bring anybody with
• 48:55
  Speaker 1: him again? I know Aiden Morris wants to work with
• 48:57
  Speaker 1: him again, he is desperate for that, but I would
• 49:00
  Speaker 1: doubt that he'd leave Burrow for Celtic and the money
• 49:02
  Speaker 1: thing there. I think it's gonna be interesting. He's somebody
• 49:05
  Speaker 1: that respects the hell out of Major League Soccer because
• 49:08
  Speaker 1: he's worked here. He knows to the level. I could
• 49:10
  Speaker 1: see him trying to sign what even whether it's somebody
• 49:12
  Speaker 1: from Columbus or like, he knows the league. So maybe
• 49:16
  Speaker 1: this is gonna have a knock on effect for American
• 49:18
  Speaker 1: or MLS based players. Going to Celtic and going to
• 49:20
  Speaker 1: Europe a little bit more is also going to have
• 49:23
  Speaker 1: an impact on the American players, the domestic players coming
• 49:26
  Speaker 1: out of the Columbus Crew, what do they do with
• 49:28
  Speaker 1: this coaching search do they hot like? There is no
• 49:31
  Speaker 1: replacing wil for Nazi just straight up, he has been
• 49:33
  Speaker 1: review looked at as the best head coach in this
• 49:36
  Speaker 1: league over the last few years and the way that
• 49:38
  Speaker 1: he empowers and develops players of all ages. He's a
• 49:40
  Speaker 1: one to one, but somebody like Taja brun Is a
• 49:44
  Speaker 1: talented U twenty player, way too soon for him to
• 49:48
  Speaker 1: be talking about this cycle, but for cycles in the future,
• 49:51
  Speaker 1: for the players that they are bringing through their academy
• 49:53
  Speaker 1: into their first team. Wolf for Nazi has been a
• 49:55
  Speaker 1: cheap coade for helping develop all these players who the
• 49:58
  Speaker 1: next person will be is to be important for that
• 50:01
  Speaker 1: pipeline continuing in Columbus.
• 50:03
  Speaker 3: Yeah, and this is this is a big move right
• 50:05
  Speaker 3: to have basically an MLS bread coach, to to take
• 50:10
  Speaker 3: a big European club because at the end of the day,
• 50:13
  Speaker 3: Celtic is a big European club with a lot of pressure.
• 50:16
  Speaker 3: You know, they have to win things and I know that.
• 50:18
  Speaker 3: You know, the Scottish League is not the most competitive league,
• 50:21
  Speaker 3: but it is a tough league and they do play
• 50:23
  Speaker 3: big games at Celtic that are important.
• 50:25
  Speaker 2: But this is a great coach.
• 50:27
  Speaker 3: I have the unfortunate story that my last game in
• 50:30
  Speaker 3: MLS was played against him.
• 50:32
  Speaker 2: I was coaching. I was coaching Houston. I was coaching Houston.
• 50:37
  Speaker 3: And our last game was in Montreal to close the season.
• 50:40
  Speaker 3: So after that, you know, Houston didn't renew my contract.
• 50:43
  Speaker 3: But but but so my last game was against Wilfrid
• 50:46
  Speaker 3: Nancy and MLS. But having said that, you know, the
• 50:49
  Speaker 3: great thing about this is that he's an excellent coach.
• 50:52
  Speaker 1: You know.
• 50:52
  Speaker 3: I think for all the things that you said, he
• 50:55
  Speaker 3: has the respect you know obviously, you know, you know,
• 50:58
  Speaker 3: it's important when when play is back a coach, you know,
• 51:02
  Speaker 3: and sometimes it could be just because the coach you know,
• 51:05
  Speaker 3: puts him on the.
• 51:06
  Speaker 2: Field, you know, day in and day out.
• 51:08
  Speaker 3: But but in this case, I think there's a lot
• 51:10
  Speaker 3: of substance there. He's been a great coach. It wasn't
• 51:13
  Speaker 3: just this year, was it just last year. It wasn't
• 51:16
  Speaker 3: just the year before. I know, when I was in
• 51:18
  Speaker 3: the league, that's likely the coach where I looked at
• 51:21
  Speaker 3: what he did and I was like, wow, he he
• 51:23
  Speaker 3: just really makes his teams play however he does it.
• 51:26
  Speaker 3: He's a special coach and and I'm glad to see
• 51:29
  Speaker 3: him get this opportunity. It's not gonna be easy because
• 51:32
  Speaker 3: certainly the Scottish Premier League is not MLS.
• 51:35
  Speaker 2: There's there's always you always.
• 51:37
  Speaker 3: Need time to adapt an unfortunate coach, there's not a
• 51:41
  Speaker 3: whole lot of time that they give you to adapt.
• 51:43
  Speaker 3: But I think he's a great coach, well deserved, and
• 51:45
  Speaker 3: I'm happy to see him go.
• 51:47
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and he's joining midseason, which is difficult. And let's
• 51:49
  Speaker 1: just say the Celtic fans don't think MLS is the
• 51:51
  Speaker 1: greatest league in the world. They they were linked with
• 51:54
  Speaker 1: their former manager and postal Clauglue and some other big names,
• 51:57
  Speaker 1: and just from some of the things that I've seen
• 51:58
  Speaker 1: on social media, you'll have to win some people over.
• 52:01
  Speaker 1: I have no doubt that he will, because that's the
• 52:02
  Speaker 1: kind of guy he is and the kind of coach
• 52:04
  Speaker 1: he is. But I think that's a super interesting one
• 52:06
  Speaker 1: to keep following moving forward. Second one, well, I'll be
• 52:09
  Speaker 1: quick here. Sebastian Borhalter and Matt Freeze are the key
• 52:12
  Speaker 1: kind of US national team pool players that are into
• 52:14
  Speaker 1: the Major League Soccer semifinals. Berhalter and the Vancouver white
• 52:17
  Speaker 1: Caps outlasted LFC Instant Classic game to two goes into
• 52:22
  Speaker 1: extra time and then penalties. Vancouver were down to ten
• 52:25
  Speaker 1: men at the start of extra time. A few minutes
• 52:27
  Speaker 1: into extra time, they brought on a center back to
• 52:30
  Speaker 1: replace Tristan Blackman, who got a red card. Well, that
• 52:32
  Speaker 1: center back got injured. Then they were out of subs
• 52:34
  Speaker 1: and they played twenty five minutes against Sun Hunkman and
• 52:38
  Speaker 1: and LAFC nine Verse eleven and somehow hung on to
• 52:42
  Speaker 1: get the penalties and won the penalty shootout. Vancouver I
• 52:46
  Speaker 1: think are my favorite to get to the final, and
• 52:47
  Speaker 1: Sebastian Baralter playing in the Western Conference Final could be
• 52:50
  Speaker 1: less Cup. Matt Freeze red y CFC Man of the
• 52:52
  Speaker 1: Match in their upset win over the Philadelphia Union. Freeze
• 52:56
  Speaker 1: going back to his former club, the Philadelphi Union. He
• 52:58
  Speaker 1: was traded to NSCFC because he wanted a chance to
• 53:00
  Speaker 1: be a starter somewhere and that turned out to be
• 53:02
  Speaker 1: the best decision, the best move of his career, because
• 53:04
  Speaker 1: he went from the backup at Philly by Andre Blake,
• 53:06
  Speaker 1: who is obviously one of the best goalkeepers in MS history.
• 53:09
  Speaker 1: Freezets his chance at NYCFC, becomes one of the best
• 53:12
  Speaker 1: goalkeepers in the league and now the starter for the
• 53:13
  Speaker 1: US national team. Those are two players, two national team
• 53:16
  Speaker 1: players to watch in the final four for Major League
• 53:19
  Speaker 1: Soccer and number three. We talked about brettan Aronson a
• 53:21
  Speaker 1: little bit before. Leeds manager Daniel Farke defended Aaronson from
• 53:26
  Speaker 1: criticism from fans. Aaronson has been criticized a lot by
• 53:29
  Speaker 1: the Leeds fans and that doesn't necessarily have anything to
• 53:33
  Speaker 1: do with anything other than the Leeds fans criticize all
• 53:37
  Speaker 1: their players. It is a difficult place to play. I've
• 53:39
  Speaker 1: spoke to enough people there. They are very passionate fan base.
• 53:41
  Speaker 1: Farke said, quote, Brendon represents so many skills that we
• 53:45
  Speaker 1: want to stand for at Leeds United. He works as
• 53:47
  Speaker 1: socks off, he gives everything, He's relentless, he leaves his
• 53:49
  Speaker 1: shirt on the pitch. It's more than unfair criticism at
• 53:52
  Speaker 1: the moment. I like seeing the head coach coming out
• 53:55
  Speaker 1: and saying that, but that means it's pretty bad around
• 53:58
  Speaker 1: the group. If he feels the need to come out
• 54:00
  Speaker 1: talk about that. Brennan has two goal contributions in eight
• 54:02
  Speaker 1: hundred Premier League minutes. His underlying like creativity numbers are
• 54:07
  Speaker 1: in line with a good to decent attacking midfield in
• 54:10
  Speaker 1: the Premier League, which is a really high bar. So
• 54:13
  Speaker 1: what have you made of of Brendan Ronson's time at Elites?
• 54:17
  Speaker 2: For me, it's been really positive, you know.
• 54:19
  Speaker 3: I mean, I think we we likely know Aaronson a
• 54:23
  Speaker 3: lot better than then you know the Leaeds fans, and
• 54:27
  Speaker 3: that's what you get. I'm not sure what the expectations
• 54:30
  Speaker 3: are going to be for him, but obviously you know
• 54:33
  Speaker 3: what the coach is saying of him leaving everything on
• 54:37
  Speaker 3: the field day in and day out.
• 54:38
  Speaker 2: I'm sure he.
• 54:39
  Speaker 3: Does the same in practice, and I think, you know,
• 54:42
  Speaker 3: sometimes the fans don't see that value, right. All they
• 54:45
  Speaker 3: see is that their team is in the relegation zone
• 54:48
  Speaker 3: right now and they have to blame somebody, and obviously
• 54:51
  Speaker 3: the form players are the first to be blamed. And
• 54:54
  Speaker 3: it all goes in line, right, it all goes in line. So, okay,
• 54:56
  Speaker 3: so we're not doing well, who do we blame? And
• 54:59
  Speaker 3: that's where the blame goes. But you know, anytime I've
• 55:02
  Speaker 3: seen Aaronson play for Leeds, he always leaves a good
• 55:05
  Speaker 3: impression with me. Obviously, you know, he works as hard
• 55:09
  Speaker 3: as he can and he makes the team better, so
• 55:11
  Speaker 3: I think it's a little bit unfair. But at the
• 55:13
  Speaker 3: end of the day, obviously at the EPL, it's the
• 55:15
  Speaker 3: toughest league in the world, and you're supposed to win games,
• 55:18
  Speaker 3: and when you don't, you're gonna take blame.
• 55:21
  Speaker 1: I think that Brendan Arison had a couple unfair circumstances.
• 55:24
  Speaker 1: The price tag. It's not his fault that they paid
• 55:26
  Speaker 1: a lot of money for him, and probably a little
• 55:28
  Speaker 1: bit too much, given if he went to a Buniziga
• 55:30
  Speaker 1: team it would not have been that same fee. But
• 55:33
  Speaker 1: also they build him as a number ten, and I
• 55:36
  Speaker 1: think that created unfair expectations of the style that he plays.
• 55:39
  Speaker 1: If they call him a number eight or or you
• 55:42
  Speaker 1: know something more that he wasn't expected to be leading
• 55:45
  Speaker 1: the team in creation and popping up with more goals,
• 55:48
  Speaker 1: which again that's not his game. He's great at a
• 55:50
  Speaker 1: lot of things, He's not a traditional number ten. He's
• 55:53
  Speaker 1: more of a modern all action number eight. I think
• 55:55
  Speaker 1: that would have helped him a little bit in terms
• 55:57
  Speaker 1: of the fan reaction, but it's not for a quick
• 55:59
  Speaker 1: break We'll be right back with our big question of
• 56:01
  Speaker 1: the week, Who will be this breakout star at the
• 56:05
  Speaker 1: World Cup? Welcome back in to Inside American Soccer. Before
• 56:16
  Speaker 1: we close out the show, we want to tackle one
• 56:18
  Speaker 1: big question this week, and that is looking at the
• 56:21
  Speaker 1: World Cup. We just gave you our roster, we just
• 56:22
  Speaker 1: gave you our starting eleven's that's time to give you
• 56:25
  Speaker 1: who we think is going to be the breakout star
• 56:27
  Speaker 1: for the United States at the twenty twenty six World Cup.
• 56:30
  Speaker 1: Tab Let me start with you.
• 56:31
  Speaker 3: You know, there was a couple of different ways to
• 56:33
  Speaker 3: look at this to answer this question. And when we
• 56:36
  Speaker 3: look at breakout stars, you know or you know my question,
• 56:40
  Speaker 3: what's going to be. Are we looking at someone that
• 56:43
  Speaker 3: we as a breakout start, someone that we just don't
• 56:46
  Speaker 3: really know yet that's going to break into, you know,
• 56:49
  Speaker 3: the team and play an.
• 56:51
  Speaker 2: Important part for us.
• 56:52
  Speaker 3: Or are we looking at one of our players who's
• 56:54
  Speaker 3: already there, who could potentially become like a world star
• 56:57
  Speaker 3: after this and I went to I went the ladder
• 57:01
  Speaker 3: because i think I'm looking at a flow Balaguan right now,
• 57:05
  Speaker 3: and I'm thinking I'm going to bank on the US
• 57:08
  Speaker 3: team having a very good run at the World Cup.
• 57:11
  Speaker 3: And I'm not jumping on the band wagon because we
• 57:14
  Speaker 3: beat Uruguay, a team that had beatn won three out
• 57:17
  Speaker 3: of the last eighteen games. It was a huge win.
• 57:20
  Speaker 3: It was a huge win. But I'm jumping on the
• 57:22
  Speaker 3: bandwagon that the players are just working hard right now
• 57:26
  Speaker 3: and we're gonna get better and better.
• 57:27
  Speaker 2: And because of that.
• 57:29
  Speaker 3: I'm thinking that we're gonna have a good World Cup.
• 57:31
  Speaker 3: And if we are, we're gonna need our number one
• 57:33
  Speaker 3: to be great. And I think if our number nine
• 57:36
  Speaker 3: is great, and if flow Balaguin has the type of
• 57:39
  Speaker 3: World Cup that I think he can have, he will
• 57:41
  Speaker 3: become a world superstar.
• 57:43
  Speaker 1: I really like that answer. I think that that is
• 57:45
  Speaker 1: all possible for him. And where he's at with Monica
• 57:47
  Speaker 1: right now, he steadied his form and showing like again.
• 57:51
  Speaker 1: He had an injury last year, a little bit of
• 57:52
  Speaker 1: difficulties at first. This is a player that the move
• 57:57
  Speaker 1: to Monaco the next it was more about I'm going
• 57:59
  Speaker 1: to go there for a few years and this is
• 58:01
  Speaker 1: a great platform, good team to be in first and foremost,
• 58:04
  Speaker 1: but also a good platform to go to the Premier
• 58:06
  Speaker 1: League or go to another Champions League club. Another move
• 58:09
  Speaker 1: up because I think that he's got another level to
• 58:11
  Speaker 1: hit so Baligan. Doing that at a World Cup that's
• 58:14
  Speaker 1: the best shop window in world football. And if he
• 58:17
  Speaker 1: scores goals, as we both expect him to, then that
• 58:21
  Speaker 1: will fast track that next potential move. And I do
• 58:23
  Speaker 1: think that he could play at you know, just about
• 58:26
  Speaker 1: the highest level in Europe if he does reach his potential.
• 58:29
  Speaker 1: So Baligan is a very interesting answer. I agree with you, Tap,
• 58:33
  Speaker 1: there are different ways to take this. I am also
• 58:35
  Speaker 1: choosing to focus on the ladder of at a home
• 58:39
  Speaker 1: World Cup. I care more about the next stratosphere that
• 58:44
  Speaker 1: our best players are going to reach or could reach.
• 58:47
  Speaker 1: This is such a boring answer, and I apologize in advance.
• 58:50
  Speaker 1: It's Christian Polizic for me, because yes, he's already broken
• 58:54
  Speaker 1: out at a long time ago. Then that's a twenty
• 58:57
  Speaker 1: two World Cup. I thought he was good. He's killing
• 59:00
  Speaker 1: it for Asie Milan. That's huge. There is nothing bigger
• 59:05
  Speaker 1: for a soccer fan in this country than being a
• 59:10
  Speaker 1: World Cup star. Doing so on home soil, Christian Poolisic
• 59:15
  Speaker 1: will vault into another stratosphere. I think in the way
• 59:20
  Speaker 1: that he's viewed, not just among American soccer fans, but
• 59:23
  Speaker 1: global soccer fans if he starts at the World Cup
• 59:26
  Speaker 1: like I think that he will, I will steal this.
• 59:30
  Speaker 1: I believe this was from Tony Miola. He said he
• 59:33
  Speaker 1: was talking to Polisic and said, how do you think
• 59:36
  Speaker 1: your life is gonna change? And he goes, I don't
• 59:38
  Speaker 1: think it's gonna change at all with the home World Cup.
• 59:41
  Speaker 1: And to his credit, he's established himself. He's he's not
• 59:44
  Speaker 1: gonna be a different player today than he will be
• 59:46
  Speaker 1: in July. But Tony laughed and said, literally, everything's gonna change.
• 59:51
  Speaker 1: You don't understand everything is gonna change. So I think
• 59:54
  Speaker 1: that that high end possibility is more than anything else.
• 59:58
  Speaker 2: Yeah, agreed.
• 59:59
  Speaker 3: I mean that's that's good shout actually to pick Christian
• 1:00:02
  Speaker 3: because he he, at the end of the day, is
• 1:00:04
  Speaker 3: our number ten. You know, the number ten's are always
• 1:00:06
  Speaker 3: they always have the best shot at being the best player, right,
• 1:00:09
  Speaker 3: and certainly he has that opportunity. And I'd love to
• 1:00:13
  Speaker 3: see it because you know, we've been watching Christian since
• 1:00:15
  Speaker 3: he's twelve years old, do wonders around the fields here
• 1:00:19
  Speaker 3: on the East Coast, and there would be nothing better
• 1:00:22
  Speaker 3: than to have him become Not that he's not a
• 1:00:26
  Speaker 3: world superstar, but right at the elite level of where
• 1:00:29
  Speaker 3: the best players of the world are.
• 1:00:30
  Speaker 1: And you think of in terms of American soccer fans
• 1:00:34
  Speaker 1: or American sports fans, everybody knows who Todd Romas is.
• 1:00:37
  Speaker 1: Everybody knows who Landon Donovan is. Everybody kind of knows
• 1:00:40
  Speaker 1: who Clint EMPs is. That mainstream appeal, that mainstream crossover
• 1:00:44
  Speaker 1: to the American soccer fans who come with loud voice
• 1:00:48
  Speaker 1: and passion and support. At the World Cup. They don't
• 1:00:51
  Speaker 1: know that he just scored against Inter Milan in the
• 1:00:54
  Speaker 1: biggest match in Italy, right, But if he scores against
• 1:00:58
  Speaker 1: Wales at toenty Siveld Cup or Denmark or anybody, they're
• 1:01:02
  Speaker 1: gonna know that. They're gonna remember that in those of
• 1:01:04
  Speaker 1: the moments that transcend not just soccer fans, but to
• 1:01:08
  Speaker 1: stardom in this country for just the general sports fan.
• 1:01:12
  Speaker 1: And I think Christian Buzik, we'll reach that this summer.
• 1:01:16
  Speaker 1: Speaking of reaching conclusions, that's the end of our show.
• 1:01:19
  Speaker 1: Here the second episode of Inside American Soccer. Thank you
• 1:01:23
  Speaker 1: all so much for listening. Please rate, review, and subscribe.
• 1:01:26
  Speaker 1: The World Cup draw is coming up next week. It's happening.
• 1:01:29
  Speaker 1: It's coming. We're gonna have something around that show. We're
• 1:01:31
  Speaker 1: gonna figure out the timing, but we're gonna be here
• 1:01:33
  Speaker 1: when we learn who the group is for the United
• 1:01:35
  Speaker 1: States at the twenty twenty six World Cup. I hope
• 1:01:37
  Speaker 1: everybody listening has a wonderful Thanksgiving, some good holidays, get
• 1:01:40
  Speaker 1: some good food in you, and get to see some
• 1:01:42
  Speaker 1: family and friends and all. And we'll be back with
• 1:01:45
  Speaker 1: you next week. And we can't wait to be there.